


Point Me Home

by SheWhoWalksUnseen



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, F/F, Fluff, Implied/Mentioned HeatVibe, Light Angst, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-25 23:24:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20034064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWhoWalksUnseen/pseuds/SheWhoWalksUnseen
Summary: Mick tries to ask Iris out for the Yule Ball.It doesn't go quite as planned.





	Point Me Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nixie_DeAngel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nixie_DeAngel/gifts).

> This swap has been crazy, what with my busy summer and writer's block and everything, but I have to say, this prompt was a ton of fun to write. Mostly because I've never written anything too long for these girls before and Harry Potter aus are always fun to work with. :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy this fic as much as I loved writing it <3

Caitlin had gotten used to being interrupted while reading, particularly when it came from a familiar figure hurrying across the way to the Ravenclaw table like all of hell was nipping at her heels. And, well, maybe it was; Hogwarts was home to all sorts of creatures and magical oddities so nothing was out of the question.

Still, years of practice kept her from startling as said figure slid onto the bench across from her, manicured nails tapping the top of the page she was reading. Cisco teased her about bringing the books to the table, especially with her growing stack from the library she already had, but ever since O.W.L.S. she’d been working her ass off to keep her grades up. After all, when one was eyeing a job at St. Mungo’s, they had to work hard. Not to mention all the pressure that came from her mother’s insistence on sending letters every month about her progress, complete with idle comments on how she’d work better under _ her _ instead of the other healers at St. Mungo’s...

“What’s got you riled up?”

Caitlin shrugged aside the faint, familiar nag in the back of her mind (that sounded suspiciously like her mother’s voice, _surprise_ _surprise_) and glanced up from her book. 

Across from her, Iris rested her chin on one of her hands, eyebrows raised. The light tapping of her other hand on Caitlin’s open page was a welcome distraction.

“Hm?”

Iris smiled, slow and fond. “You were frowning so hard I thought you were trying to set that book on fire. What’d it do to you?”

Caitlin rolled her eyes, straightening in her seat. It was a struggle to bite back a smile of her own the longer she met Iris’s gaze. “Nothing. Just… Well, my mother sent me another letter. Couldn’t help thinking about it. Though I’m sure that’s not why you decided to come over and join me. At the wrong table.”

“Who says it’s the wrong table?”

“The Sorting Hat,” Caitlin reminded her. A quick and rather pointed look toward the Gryffindor table across the hall, lively as ever with a sea of maroon staring back at her, should’ve been enough indication. If the loose tie hanging around Iris’s neck wasn’t enough prior to now, that is.

Then again, the Wests had never been known to be fazed by rules they didn’t care for.

(Caitlin would never admit it out loud but it was one of Iris’s more admirable traits. When she wasn’t trying to convince her, Cisco and Barry to sneak out in the middle of the night for a bite to eat.)

True to form, that smile twitched, verging on a smirk as she leaned forward a little more. Caitlin didn’t dare glance down to check how close their hands were on her library book now. “No one cares. They’re not even really looking. Besides, what are they going to do? Banish me from the Ravenclaw table? Expel me?”

“I’m just saying, don’t push your luck.”

“Luck has nothing to do with it.” Alright, _ now _ she was simply pushing her buttons for fun. Caitlin hoped her expression conveyed how unimpressed she felt but Iris didn’t budge. “Don’t worry about it, really. If the Headmaster was that concerned about people sitting wherever the hell they want, some announcement would’ve been made or - well, something would’ve been done.”

Rather than admit Iris had a point, Caitlin folded her hands and let her eyes drift past her fellow sixth year. Across the hall she spied Cisco and Barry talking with Iris’s brother Wally, miming something she presumed had to do with brooms - which likely meant an impromptu Quidditch match was on the way. 

She almost wanted to wrinkle her nose at the thought; she’d never cared for Quidditch, nor the school matches. Cisco teased her about sitting their practice matches out, but they both knew she wouldn’t go to them at all if it wasn’t for Barry, Wally and Iris asking for their help. Though, how much help Caitlin provided by wobbling on her broom for half an hour before feigning altitude sickness was unclear.

Besides, Cisco also knew why she even went to the Quidditch games with him, why it was usually only Gryffindor she rooted for, nevermind if their own house was playing. And _ that _ was a secret she had all but made him swear an Unbreakable Vow toward and take to his grave.

(Not that she _ would _ make him swear any such thing, of course. She knew better than anyone that magic was dangerous and she’d never force that upon her best friend over something as silly as _ this _.)

“So,” Iris’s voice yanked her back from the precipice of a much more dangerous train of thought, whether she knew it or not, and Caitlin turned back with (hopefully not) flushed cheeks. “I did come over to tell you something. Or, ask you something, I guess.”

“Oh?”

Brown eyes met hers for a moment before darting away, fixed on her nails. Caitlin noted faintly that she seemed to have stopped fidgeting and tapping. “I… Well, I don’t know if I want to do it here, but I just - ”

Someone cleared their throat behind Caitlin’s head. The way Iris’s head snapped up shouldn’t have made her gut clench but there was something in the torn relief and exasperation written in those eyes that made her want to get up and walk all the way back to Ravenclaw Tower’s common room. And maybe sleep for a year.

“Oh. Hi.” Iris cleared her throat and sat back, brow furrowing. Caitlin looked over her shoulder and a flicker of surprise tickled her chest at the sight of a tight-lipped Mick Rory. It wasn’t as if they had classes together, what with him being a full year ahead of them both, though if he was here about that Herbology tutoring Caitlin had promised him three days ago -

“Just needed to ask you something,” Mick said. Caitlin suddenly got the impression he didn’t want to be having this conversation in front of her, not when he was eyeing Iris so blatantly. Her gut clenched harder, a slow burn that she fought to ignore. “If you had a moment.”

“Me?” Iris looked between him and Caitlin, but only for a few moments before her expression cleared. She smiled wide, open like she hadn’t been about to ask _ Caitlin _ something a second prior. “Yeah, what do you need?”

Mick grimaced. “Not a _ need _. But… Well, you’re not going with anyone to the Ball, are you?”

The burn transformed into a searing brand across her stomach, biting through her flesh with heated fangs as she turned back around, keeping her face lowered. It shouldn’t matter if Mick noticed, not really, but if Iris was looking, if she cared enough to -

_ It doesn’t matter _ , she snapped at herself. _ It doesn’t. _

Cisco’s pout, compassionate yet teetering on pity if she didn’t know any better, swam before her eyes and she couldn’t even pretend she was reading the diagram in front of her, not when that familiar murmur returned to the back of her mind with a soft _ You know it matters, it’s okay that it does, Cait _.

It wasn’t as if this was anything new. _ This _ being people asking Iris out. After all, the only way she’d met Iris was through Cisco hanging out with Barry and his (at the time) girlfriend. Who happened to be Iris West.

Not that it had lasted long, but there were always others after girls like Iris. Caitlin was a little shocked it had taken over a month for any Yule Ball invitations to be extended to Iris at all.

Or, maybe they had and she simply hadn’t born a front row seat to witness one.

(That thought didn’t assuage the nausea swelling in the pit of her stomach.)

But this was the first time someone had asked her out like _ this _ since Caitlin had accepted… Well, whatever it was she felt.

_ It’s called feelings _ , that Cisco-esque voice objected. _ They make you human, nothing wrong with that. _

There was plenty wrong with pining for one of your friends in Caitlin’s opinion, especially when you couldn’t steel yourself enough to ask her out yourself to the damn Ball. Even if the thought of dancing in front of everybody and being _ with _somebody for the first time since her crush on Ronnie Raymond in her fourth year was a horrifying idea.

“The Ball.” She didn’t look up but there was something in Iris’s tone that brought back that image of world-weary exasperation again. And really, that wasn’t fair because if anyone deserved a break from the world - in Caitlin Snow’s humble opinion, at least - it was Iris Ann West. “Right. Um, well…”

“If you’ve got someone, you don’t have to say anything,” Mick said, which was a lot more considerate than Caitlin would’ve given him credit for, but underneath that gruff exterior, he’d already proven himself thoughtful many times over. Like when he snuck Caitlin that Chocolate Frog after a Charms class years ago, just because she’d been miserable the whole day thanks to some irritable classmates and her period coming early.

Damn it. Of all the people to ask Iris out, it had to be someone she could admittedly see Iris meshing well with. Barry and Cisco might be a little terrified at first when she broke the news, given Mick’s general...disposition. But they’d get used to him.

“It’s not that.” Iris sighed. “I don’t have someone.”

“You just don’t wanna go with me.” Caitlin resisted the urge to wince at Mick’s candor.

“I was kind of hoping to ask out someone else, actually. No offense.”

Ask out? As in _ Iris _ was going to do the asking? She wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not, what with the implications that Iris had someone in mind.

“None taken.” There was a rustling behind her and Caitlin could picture Mick shrugging without having to turn. Or maybe he was fidgeting. He didn’t sound too upset. “Just figured I ought to ask, since everyone’s got somebody now.”

_ Well, the Yule Ball _ is _ in two weeks _, a petty part of her wanted to say.

_ Yeah, and what have you done about your own little proposal, Cait? _

“Good. That’s good.” Iris paused before leaning forward and lowering her voice. “You know, some of my friends are still waiting on a date for the Ball too.”

Mick chuckled and Caitlin tried not to act like her heart was plummeting because _ oh, no _ . She could _ not _ be doing what Caitlin hoped she wasn’t doing. 

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. I think Cisco’d be over the moon if you asked him, actually.”

Caitlin blinked. She - Wait.

Oh. That explained why he went so red when she brought up tutoring Mick the other day.

“Huh.” Mick echoed her thoughts, clearing his throat after Iris’s words sank in. “Well. Thanks, West.”

“No problem.” Smug satisfaction dripped off her tongue like honey.

“And, uh, good luck to you too.”

“Thanks, Mick.”

Caitlin waited until she could hear his footsteps fade down the length of the table before casting an incredulous look at Iris, who watched him go with a grin that spoke of nothing but sheer delight.

“How long have you known about Cisco and his…”

“A few weeks now,” Iris said, not taking her eyes off of Mick. “He asked me yesterday if I thought Mick had a date already, so I put two and two together. Officially, that is.”

“Ah. I… I, um, didn’t know.”

Iris’s grin wavered as she turned to Caitlin. “You didn’t?”

“I mean, I probably should’ve guessed. No wonder he asked me to go to the Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw game last weekend. I thought he was just - oh, I don’t know.”

“On the bright side, he’s going to be overjoyed in about ten minutes. Since I doubt Mick’s going back to his table right now.”

Caitlin snorted and the ache that had been lingering the whole conversation with Mick began to finally subside. “Don’t you dare tell him I didn’t know, or he’ll never let me hear the end of it.”

“You can always say you were there when Mick got the idea, though?” Iris tilted her head. “Or, when I gave him the idea, if we’re getting technical.”

“In any case,” Caitlin said, her lips beginning to curl at the corners, “you made a Ravenclaw very happy today. So, on his behalf, I suppose I have to say thank you.”

That grin vanished altogether and Caitlin almost wished she hadn’t spoken. Though, she wasn’t sure what could’ve been so appalling about her statement.

“I suppose you could.” Iris glanced away and bit her lip. “That kind of brings me back to our earlier conversation.”

“You mean Mick popping the question? Because I’m surprised you didn’t say yes.” _ Digging your own grave, so I see _, Cisco piped up from the recesses of her brain.

“No, no,” and here Iris sighed a second time, “though that was nice of him. But I meant what I said. I was hoping to ask somebody else earlier. Even if it’s taken a month to do so.”

It was Caitlin’s turn to avert her eyes, hating how she moved for her book every time. As if she could possibly think about Healing given the current conversation. “So you were serious about wanting to ask somebody.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m sure he’s just as interested, don’t worry. He’s probably been waiting for you.”

Iris laughed, and there was something off about the sound. “Not so sure about that, but thanks. I’ve been a bit of an idiot about it. Even Barry and Wally have noticed, that’s how bad I’ve gotten at hiding it.”

And there was that gut-wrenching twist once more. Caitlin forced a small smile but she didn’t meet Iris’s eyes. “Hey, it can’t be that bad.”

“Considering she’s sitting right in front of me, it’s kind of bad.”

“That’s really not - ”

Caitlin’s whole body froze and swallowing a lump in her throat that hadn’t been there two seconds ago became a herculean task. She closed her book slowly, unable to help the way she eyed Iris with growing wariness, struggling to smother the spark of hope in her heart.

She could not have heard that right. It had to have been a _he_ or _they’re over there, across the room, _anywhere but_ right in front of me_.

That tentative smile across the table, wobbling ever-so-slightly in the face of Caitlin’s disbelief, disagreed whole-heartedly.

“In front of you.” Her voice came out small, barely audible to her own ears.

Iris shrugged as if she wasn’t the picture of a nervous wreck waiting to happen, a curl falling loose from her braid as she held Caitlin’s gaze. Caitlin tamped down on the urge to reach over and tuck it behind her ear, which would’ve been a typically easy thing to do had she not been faced with _ this _ dilemma and _ right in front of me _echoing throughout her mind.

“I told you, I’m not good at this,” Iris said, equally soft in her delivery. “Wally said I should just ‘stop stalling and go for it’, but, well, you know how me and impulsive decisions go.”

“McGonagall still glares at you whenever the incident with the Blast-Ended Skrewt comes up,” Caitlin admitted. It felt like she was miles away from her place at the table, hovering above this conversation as she struggled to compute what was happening before her eyes.

Iris laughed, her posture relaxing. “Yes! See, not a good idea. I told him the same thing.”

“But…” Caitlin licked her lips and wow, she really didn’t need to see Iris’s eyes dart down to watch that movement, that was _ not _ helping her cope with this bizarre turn of events right now. “But sometimes those impulsive ideas end well. Like when you joined the Quidditch team even though Joe was pissed for two months. And making friends. And…”

“Asking one of my best friends to go to the Yule Ball with me, and possibly on a date afterwards?” Iris whispered.

Caitlin’s mouth twitched and a heady rush of glee bubbled underneath the voice of the cynical nag trying to make sense of this situation still. “Yeah. Yeah, I think that might end pretty well. But you haven’t asked her yet.”

Iris stared at her for a long minute, eyes widening a fraction the longer Caitlin stared back. And somehow it was the calm determination of that stare, or maybe her own joy over this roundabout proposal, or perhaps even the relief shining brighter than the Christmas tree at the front of the Great Hall reflected in those dark eyes - 

Well, there was no use speculating.

_Whatever_ _it_ _was_ that held her captive for so long, it only caused her to smile, a fond little thing she couldn’t quite contain, and Caitlin couldn’t resist smiling back, her cheeks already hurting with the effort it took not to giggle as they flushed a dark pink.

“I think I know the answer,” Iris murmured, “but, Caitlin Snow?” 

“Yes, Iris West?” Her name was a breathless gasp on her tongue and Iris hesitated, swallowing hard.

“Will you go with me to the Yule Ball?”

Caitlin let her smile widen, her fingers brushing the top of Iris’s knuckles as she stretched over the table, and somewhere across the Great Hall, she could hear Cisco squeak something in assent and someone - maybe Barry, maybe Wally, maybe some bystanders at the Gryffindor table caught up in the heat of the moment - laughed loud and openly, without a care in the world.

“Only if you promise there’ll be no stampedes of Blast-Ended Skrewts by the punch table.”

Iris’s laugh joined the small uproar on the other side of the Hall and Caitlin didn’t need to hear her promise, or feel the hand under hers move to twine their fingers gently, to know that luck had absolutely nothing to do with the warmth spreading through her chest like a wildfire.

Cisco could try and tease her about this later, but judging by his own little celebration and the way her own joy trembled in her veins, she wasn’t going to hear a single word aside from the _ I promise _ resonating in the space between her and Iris West for a _ long _ time.

**Author's Note:**

> Come scream with me at my DCTV Tumblr @areyouscarletcold. Comments are always appreciated, and have a great day!


End file.
